1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a joint inspection apparatus for automatically inspecting a deviation of tape edge portions from each other in the tape width direction at a tape joint in the case where long tapes are joined together. This invention particularly relates to a joint inspection apparatus for detecting a deviation of edge portions of, for example, a leader tape and a magnetic tape from each other in the tape width direction, which deviation may arise in the case where the leader tape and the magnetic tape are joined together at the edge portions thereof by use of a joining tape for obtaining a video tape, an audio tape or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the course of making video tape cassettes or audio tape cassettes, a leader tape (or a trailer tape) and a magnetic tape are joined together by use of a joining tape, and a deviation of the edge portions of the leader tape and the magnetic tape from each other in the tape width direction at the joint area heretofore has been judged by visual inspection by the operators.
However, with the visual inspection, criteria of judgment differ among the operators, and defective products may be missed due to fatigue of the operators. Therefore, it is not always possible to make the quality of the products uniform. Also, personnel expenses for the operators cause the product cost to increase, and the production speed is decreased by the presence of the artificial process in the production processes.